GPS to Ubidots - Erinn #5


After successfully connecting to Ubidots via the CW01 XinaBox xChip, the next step was to
connect the SN01 GPS xChip, in order to communicate with the USV and Tello drone.

At first glance it seemed like a simple setup, installing the SN01 MakeCode extension and sending the longitude and latitude values to Ubidots. 

However, when powered up, the Microbit displayed three dots, meaning "System busy – do not click buttons" according to the troubleshooting guide. 


After waiting several minutes with no luck, I began to doubt my GPS xChip since we had accidentally inserted it upside down at one stage which may have fried the chip. I contacted XinaBox support regarding my struggles and was advised to be outside away from any tall buildings that could interrupt the satellite signals and to give the device time to download the almanac, a regularly updated digital schedule of satellite orbital parameters for use by GNSS receivers. Unfortunately, it was raining very heavy the day I received the email response so I had to wait for the weather to improve.

The following day, Kevin, my classmate, and I sat outside the college for 30-40 minutes trying to download the almanac and connect to Ubidots. Eventually, the three dots disappeared and the coordinates displayed on the LED screen and to Ubidots. Once the almanac was downloaded the first time, connectivity didn't take that long. This allowed us to set up a map widget on our Ubidots dashboard to live-track the USV.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to: Tello drone to micro bit - Victor Alikberov, Blog#1

Image
1. Introduction. The purpose of this blog is to explain everything that is needed in order to connect tello drone to micro bit. It will cover wiring,  javascript code behind custom created tello extension and how to use this extension to connect and drive tello via microbit. 2. Wiring. Since tello drone creates its own wi-fi hotspot, additional wi-fi module is required in order to establish wireless connection between micro bit and tello. ESP8266 will be used to connect micro bit to tello wi-fi hotspot and also to establsih UDP communications between micro bit and drone. The pinout of the ESP8266 chip is shown below. ESP8266 chip pinout. Receiving port (Rx) is connected to transmitting port of the micro bit (pin 2) and transmitting port (Tx) of the ESP8266 is connected to receiving port of the micro bit (pin 1).  3.3 volts power supply should be provided both to micro bit and ESP8266 chip. Chip enable port is also connected to 3.3v power supply.  ESP8266 plus microbi...
Read more

First USV Test - Jack Pender, Blog #5

Image
Introduction: On the 18 th of March we held our first field test at Killurin Bridge in Wexford. We met there at 10 am, with a plan of finishing up at 2 pm, giving us plenty of time to test each aspect of the project we have been working on. It was great to see the USV on the water for the first time, and it helped to visualise it in the setting that its use is intended for. Testing: The main tests for this first field test were to trial the driving functionality; Manual Drive, Microbit Drive and Cloud Drive. Using the controller, the drive of the USV was successful and it was great to finally see its speed and mobility on the water. With the Manual Drive, controlled by Patryck, going according to plan, this allowed us to test the Microbit Drive, which would be controlled by Adam. Using two Microbits to control the direction and thruster power, Adam completed a successful drive of the USV. This was great to see as it meant that the control of the USV could be friendly to everyone...
Read more

OpenCV To RoboRealm - Jack Pender, Blog #7

Image
Introduction: Developing further on getting the camera feed from the Tello drone to a viewable format, it was decided to try and get the camera feed into RoboRealm. Once the camera feed is in RoboRealm, it can essentially be sent to anywhere from there, in our case Ubidots, but if this were to change we would now have a better starting point. RoboRealm: RoboRealm was created in 2006 to take advantage of lower cost generic computing, a widening range of lower cost imaging devices, an increasing need and usage of vision as a primary sensor device and the desire to come to a solution with an interactive user interface with minimal programming. This made it ideal for this project as it meant that for future iterations it would be quick and simple for someone else to get up and running with. Procedure: Using multiple of the built-in features of RoboRealm I created a programe that would start a screen capture in order to have RoboRealm capture the drone feed. Firstly, within an if ...
Read more